Missing book

[kts]

Can anybody help me find a missing book?
The background: I work in a library where I mend damaged books. The volume in question is recorded as having been through my office in 2001, but I haven't got it now, and it is not on loan to anyone, nor in its place on the shelf, though its companion volume is there. I've been searching for months now.
I asked I Ching " Is the book on the shelf in its section somewhere (though not in the right place)?" and got the answer H57(moving lines i,v,vi) >> H11. I just hadn't a clue what this could mean and asked a supplementary: "Where is this book". The answer was H14 (moving line v)>>H1. Could the hexagram lines possibly symbolise the floors of the library, which are six in number ? The book belongs on the 5th floor. But the hexagram isn't static, as you might expect for something sitting still in one place. Is anyone skilled in this sort of question? I've run out of steam in my efforts at interpretation.
Keith

 

[candid]

Sorry Keith, I'm stumped, but its clear that the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

 

[kts]

It really looks as if I'm being told that I'm doing too much pondering / divination / introspection (57) and ought to give myself some peace (11), irrespective of the actual question.

 

[candid]

Only you could know this. Sometimes we ask a question with our head but the Ching answers the matter of our heart.

 

[Sparhawk]

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1>Quote:</FONT>

Sometimes we ask a question with our head but the Ching answers the matter of our heart.<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE>

Words to live by. In my experience I've found that the Yi always gives you an accurate answer. Many times we just don't consciously know what the question is.

Look inside. It may be talking to you.

L

 

[candid]

Keith,

Just curious, what book is it that you feel compelled to find?

C

 

[hilary]

I don't suppose you personally could have lent it to anyone, could you? If not, have you tried looking really persistently, close at hand? This is all wild guesswork, of course, but I wonder whether you look for things like I do, ie not thoroughly enough, so that they turn up in a place I'd glanced at and dismissed.

I tried once getting my (sceptical) husband to test me by hiding a 5p piece in a small room, so I could divine its whereabouts. No luck at all. I posted one of my readings to the Midaughter list for the fun of it, and was ignobly comforted to see that no-one else could get particularly close, either - apart from LiSe, who picked up on something in #61 referring to a mirror. I think if she'd been in the room, she'd have gone straight to the right place.

LiSe, I hope you're not too embarrassed to post now...

 

[kts]

The book is volume one of a prose English translation by M. N. Dutt of the Mahabharata. I need the particular copy of it that i'm looking for in order to copy the first few pages, to mend another copy which is deficient.

Hilary's suggestion about looking persistently close at hand is really apt - I've often not found things that are right under my nose - but I've been doing this too. It might possibly have gone to someone else's office.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'll keep looking.

 

[heylise]

Not embarrassed to post. . but too busy.
But the acounting for the year is finished (I still cannot believe it!) so I can play now for a lot of time. And mail, and find out characters, and do nonsense, and find out if a hexagram might point to a shelf and a lot of other things.
Will post soon, but cannot promise anything
LiSe

 

[heylise]

If Dutt's Mahabharata is on this floor, then on which shelf?
(The beginning is just a copy of the hexes and lines, for your question see below)


57: The blueprint or the seal that one carries, decides all what one is or does. WIND-WIND
57.1 Advancing and retreating. Harvest: a military man's determination.
Sometimes there are no rules or habit, no personal engagement or responsibility. Or maybe one is indecisive. In that case discipline and order are necessary to get things done. Forget about status, preconceptions, fears. A warrior does what warrior-ship demands.
(Changes to hex.9) WIND-WIND -> WIND-HEAVEN
9.1 Return to one's way. To carry one's fault, auspicious.
One of the most difficult things to accomplish is to accept one's faults and mistakes without any problem. In order to go one's road one has to, because every guilt blocks this road - and so do many roads with and for others. Make sure you follow the rules of your heart and not of good manners or preconceptions. And actually DO follow them.
57.5: Determination auspicious. Regrets go away. There will be harvest. Without a beginning there is an end. Before Geng three days, after Geng three days. Auspicious.
Slowly and gently one weaves one's seal into everything one does or is. It is an unceasing process which gives one's life and all one's actions one's own pattern. Even an unborn child is already shaping his life. The result of this process is a character and destination which can hardly be changed anymore, like the liquid metal which is very hard after cooling down. So be careful with the moments when you still can shape things.
(Changes to hex.18) WIND-WIND -> WIND-MOUNTAIN
18.5: Stem-father's decay. Use praise.
With praise and rewards one can gently induce changes where every other method fails. Do not force people or events when it is not necessary, act as gentle as possible, then changes can grow organically.
57.6: Seal assignment below the stand. Losing one's authoritative power. Determination: pitfall.
Never put your standards low. Do not allow your mind to be poor because you are exhausted, or your heart to be unhappy, not even for the most valid of reasons. No reason can ever be an excuse for a low spirit. If you allow those reasons to rule over your spirit, your life will become just as poor as the reasons.
(Changes to hex.48) WIND- WIND-> WIND-WATER
48.6: The well is gathering. Do not cover it. Be true. Great good fortune.
Accept inspiration when and how it comes. Do not expect, prepare, analyze or postpone - just get your bucket and draw from the well. Being inspired or happy is your own making, it is not made by circumstances.
ALL to 11: Tai is about imploring for favors and blessings and receiving abundance and prosperity. If you ask the gods for blessings, you will receive them, because you open your mind to see them. Some people find things in places where many others went before and found nothing. Happiness is the result of a state of mind, and going to Mount Tai is to find that. WIND-WIND->HEAVEN-EARTH


"Is Dutt's Mahabharata on the shelf in its section somewhere (though not in the right place)?" (on this (5th) floor?)
57 Could it be that you search too much according to your own ideas of how-to-search? And too much on your own? It is as if the Yi is saying, that you don't look on the places you cannot imagine. Or in a way too much restricted to your own ideas.
Is there anybody who might give ideas, or help searching. Or make fun together and in the meantime wander around, looking for clues.
57.1 to 9.1 Forget about personal feelings, search with discipline. And forget all these fruitless efforts, search as if it is the first time.
57.5 to 18.5 Tomorrow (Jan.22) is Geng-day, and then again Feb.1, 21 etc. So every time (at or during) 3 days before and 3 days after would be good days for searching. And maybe especially Jan.25, 29, Feb.4 etc. One more thing: after Geng 3 days, and after that comes Jia-day, the day of hex.18, on Jan.26. I don't know which day is the best one, so far there are not many days left in between, but I would certainly take a fresh look at the shelves again on Jan.26.
Geng is the stem of yang metal. Any 'heavy metal' around? Maybe 3 sections before this metal, or 3 after? Don't count logical, but like a child: the section itself, then 3 sections, and then comes the one 'after' 3 sections.
Geng is also a hoe, an implement for working the earth, and it indicates seasons. Do you have a books-section about these things? This line changes to 'stem-father's decay', maybe books about worn-out patriarchs, or worn-out books of ancient masters?
57.6 to 48.6 Not underneath something. Not below the stand, not covered.
Changing to 11: "some people find things in places, where others went before and found nothing . ." I have the impression, that it is on this floor. Also because there are so many lines changing: putting you to work, giving hints, pointing at weak spots in your search.

"Where is this book"
14: heaven gave you talents, use them HEAVEN-FIRE
14. 5: His truth is then associating, then awesome (impressive). Auspicious.
A strong character is authorative when that is necessary, but just as easy he can be nice and sympathizing. For both one needs strength, and even more so for changing at the right moment.
(Changes to hex.1) HEAVEN-FIRE ->HEAVEN- HEAVEN


01: Sow or harvest when the dragon tells you to, so watch the dragon. Don't 'think', but look to heaven and season, feel the wind, watch the clouds, look for the signs.
It is possible that line 5 says, that it is on the 5th floor. The line even describes the two parts of the book. A romantic human story, and heavenly wisdom.
The dragon flies high - any possibility for the book to be in a very high place?

oops - I have to run. If I can think of anything more, I will post it.

LiSe

 

[bradford_h]

Then again, finding it might not mean actually "finding it"
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/dutt/

this is a an awesome sit, btw
http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm

 

[heylise]

Hex.57 is a table or stand with seals on it. This is what you do with books: copy, print, make them match the original again. Like the seal one receives from the emperor: one half, matching his half. And later used as seal for putting a stamp on documents. Line 5 changes to the venerable old patriarch who needs mending.
The bottom line is about a 'determination' for a military man, which is probably asking advice from the gods (or Yi) for a strategy.
The top line says, not to ask anybody, but to trust your own inspiration (because its correlating line is 48.6). It does not contradict the previous one, because this is a different realm. Not the reality of a action, but the stance of the spirit.

Finding the book: reaching up to the top? I think it is somewhere high. Still puzzling about 57.6: losing something below the stand. Could 57 indicate, that it is still in your office, snowed under? Just to be sure, take a look below your working table.

A big hand, heaven giving blessings. Other meaning: a big harvest, a good year. Line 5: the blessing of a flexible, nimble mind.

The sun, drying, or even scorching, the vegetation. But line 5 is the dragon up high who can bring rain at the right moment.

Is your office higher than the 5th floor? Then maybe search there again, in a low place. If it is lower, then search on the 5th floor, but high.

This is all I can make of it at this moment

LiSe

 

[arien]

Ive been following this thread with interest, and since Ive also tried to find things using the yi before, I would be very pleased to see that it could be effective in this case (and I do hope you find that book)

Unfortunatelly, my experience is that the answers only become clear once we do find the missing item. Then we'll go "ahh, so thats what it meant..."

Reminds me, on the last uefa cup, I asked if Porto would win. I got 57 with three changing lines (cant remember exactly which, just that it had the top one)
At the time (this was before the game), I thought, "hum... thats not so good for porto"
Specially the last line, where "He follows up injurious influences into the most secret corners. But he no longer has the strength to combat them decisively" (Wilhelm's commentary)

After the game, it felt like a real portrait of what happened, porto won by 3-2, so the three "penetrations" were the 3 goals. And if you've seen the match, its obvious that 6th line refered to celtic, who at the end of the game had no energy left to equal the score

But could I have antecipated this interpretation beforehand?